kris_rasnake - Posted - 01/22/2013:  18:13:11

Dose anyone know of a place I could purchase any of the Knoxville Grass or Pinacle Boys albums on cd?

tb2_1933 - Posted - 01/22/2013:  18:18:01

Hey Kris  for The Knoxville Grass albums you can message Jim Millsaps and for The Pinnacle Boys albums you can message Banjothon who is Larry Mathis .Both these guys are on banjo hangout and were the banjo players for these groups .

banjoy - Posted - 01/22/2013:  18:19:06

Email Larry Mathis. He was the banjo picker in those bands. It seems if anyone knows, he would.

Maybe also try Disc Exchange in Knoxville.

Edited by - banjoy on 01/22/2013 18:20:46

kris_rasnake - Posted - 01/22/2013:  18:27:35

Thanks! Jim Millsapps, Glenn Laney, & Larry Mathis are all just outstanding banjo players. There sure was some of best bluegrass ever happening in East Tennessee during that time.

f5loar - Posted - 01/22/2013:  23:07:54

Great, great bands of the 70's and 80's.  Solid grass at it's best.  I have all the LPs and all their rare 45 singles and a few live cassette tapes of KG but TMK the only one that made it to CD was Painted Lady with Mark Newton in the band.   I know Darryl Wolfe, the original mandolin player has transfered the LPs to CD for his personal pleasure.  I was at his house one night and he had the first KG LP on CD turned wide open on some super large JBLs as he played along with it.   You might contact him for copies. 

robbyboone - Posted - 01/23/2013:  20:24:09

I wish that "Darby's Castle" would be released on CD. I bought (and still have) that album many years ago. At that time in my part of the country I had not heard of The Knoxville Grass, I saw the album and bought it soley because of Jimmy Milsapps picture on the cover.......he played just like I knew he would!!!  Great album!!!!!! 

Robby

Kel Kroydon - Posted - 01/24/2013:  03:30:36

Jim Millsapps and Larry Mathis ...fair pickers I guess!

vlawson - Posted - 01/24/2013:  06:20:46

Here is a video of the Knoxville Grass.  These guys can really play .The banjo that Glenn Laney is playing is I was told was a 1932 tb2 or rb2 I can't remember but I have seen it. The guy that has it now Marvin Barrett. 

VIDEO: Knoxville Grass Whisper Your Name (click to view)

Bow-tie75 - Posted - 01/24/2013:  08:12:19

thanks for posting... Have not heard of them until now, that is solid.

vlawson - Posted - 01/24/2013:  08:42:14

The man playing rythem guitar is Blake Reed. I use to work with his son Berry Reed who now plays bass for the lonesome river band. He also has played bass for Michael Cleveland and flamekeeper. He's a really nice guy .

Edited by - vlawson on 01/24/2013 08:43:11

jfb - Posted - 01/24/2013:  09:32:38

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kel Kroydon



Jim Millsapps and Larry Mathis ...fair pickers I guess!

---

 As Lester said when he was introducing Jake..if ye not acquainted with Knoxville, tha ta go to show ye that they can raise whatevere they want to down there..

all kidding aside, Jim and Larry are the best people you would ever want to meet..

f5loar - Posted - 01/25/2013:  18:24:14

That video is from their final days as the Knoxville Grass.  Glen Laney was the only original member still left by this point.  They did an overseas tour with James Bailey on banjo.  The best line ups included Paul Brewster who left to go with Osbornes.  Millsapps and Wolfe joined up in a band called "New Vintage".   Not to be confused with the North Carolina band "New vintage" with Russell Johnson and Gena Britt.  Glenn was just a super singer and picker.  Sad we lost him so early in his life.

jmillsapps - Posted - 01/26/2013:  05:40:47

Had a lot of fun with the KG. I left the band in 1979 and returned as the banjo player in 1985. That group consisted of Blake Reed, Glenn Laney, Greg Hodge and myself. We continued playing as the KG until the early 90's when Glenn started getting ill. Glenn and I played music together off and on for nearly 25 years. A great friend and musician. The band Darrell Wolfe and I played in was called "New Dawn". It consisted of Phil and Kent Leadbetter. Darryl Wolfe, Doug Johnson and myself. Never had any CD's of any of the early KG music. LP's and 8 tracks were all we ever had.  John, nice seeing you at Banjothon.....it's easy to be nice to good people. Thanks for "Papaw"! Thank you Robbie Boone...that means a lot coming from as fine a banjo player as you. By the way, the guy that has Glenn's banjo is Marvin Bartlett. It was a TB-1 or 2 (don't remember) with a Ryan ring and GTR neck. Thanks everyone for the kind words!

Edited by - jmillsapps on 01/26/2013 05:53:59

banjoy - Posted - 01/26/2013:  09:35:16

Found a couple of cool links I wanted to share:

Bluegrass royalty: Band working on half-century of pure pickin', harmonies

Knoxville Grass ‎– Live! At Buddy's Bar-B-Q

moses - Posted - 01/26/2013:  10:33:39

The Knoxville Grass was as good as anybody out there in their day in my book. Great picking, great singing, and good stage presence.

banjoy - Posted - 01/26/2013:  10:44:01

You know ... I lived in the Knoxville area for 26 years ... and only now did the light bulb go off...

All these years I thought The Knoxville Grass and The Knoxville Bluegrass Band were one and the same ...

Apparently not? My bad. Either way, great musicians all!

RB100 - Posted - 01/26/2013:  12:02:07

I attended grad school in Knoxville at UT during the late 70s and was treated to some of the best bluegrass ever IMO! Buddy's Barbeque and Pick 'n Grin Music were two of my favorite haunts. Got to hear the Knoxville Grass, Pinnacle Boys, New Dawn, Boot Hill with Louisa Branscomb, Gritz - many touring groups such as Boone Creek who all came to this hot bed of bluegrass. The thing I remember most is how gracious all the performers and musicians were at that time. Larry Mathis, Jim Millsapps, and Glen Laney personified for me what playing a banjo is all about! If you don't know about The Knoxville Grass (and The Pinnacle Boys), the Brewsters, et al you really are missing out on an important part of bluegrass history.

banjoy - Posted - 01/26/2013:  12:14:31

Béla Fleck used to perform at Buddy's Bar-B-Q with the band Spectrum (I think it was that band) in the 1980s.

Buddy's Bar-B-Q was like bluegrass central. Great Bar-B-Q too!! They STILL serve great Bar-B-Q.

You can visit Bud Brewster right behind Buddy's on Kingston Pike, at his music store Pick 'n Grin.

Great memories...

kris_rasnake - Posted - 01/26/2013:  15:28:33

I had all four of the albums on cd once but let someone borrow them. I had gotten them off of the friends of old time music blog, but it's shut down now too.